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Originally Posted by SportScout
Just learning here... if SW says yes, what's the harm or why do some disagree?
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S&W provides lots of guidance, including the following from the Shield manual:
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NEVER KEEP AMMUNITION IN THE SAME LOCATION AS THE FIREARM. Store each in a separate and secure place.
ALWAYS WEAR EYE PROTECTION THAT IS SPECIFIED FOR USE WITH FIREARMS every time you handle your firearm for cleaning and maintenance.
Never load your pistol until you are sure of your target, what is beyond it and are fully prepared to fire.
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Do you follow each of the above to the letter? If not, you hopefully understand what S&W was trying to convey and appreciate the circumstances in which the guidance should be followed or other circumstances in which the guidance may not need to be applied.
Regarding dry firing, consider what is different about dry firing compared to live firing. In live firing, a cartridge in the chamber limits the firing pin's forward movement. If there is no cartridge in the chamber, something else stops the firing pin's forward movement, whether that may be the firing pin crashing into the front of the firing pin channel or possibly the firing pin stopping when the firing pin spring is compressed to its minimum. Cartridge substitutes allow the firing pin to operate as it is designed to regularly do during live firing.
As to advice on dry-firing, S&W is undoubtedly correct that dry-firing a modern pistol is not going to quickly cause its failure. But dry-firing without a cartridge substitute does place unusual stresses on some of a pistol's parts, that could or would eventually lead to failure.
Since I do not know how much dry-firing would be excessive, spending a few cents to make a dummy cartridge or a couple of dollars for snap caps is a cheap form of insurance against the possibility of eventually damaging my guns.